Under the Byzantines the prior was first in the state, though there is mention of a Catapan in 1163. The title of the supreme officer was changed to "Rector," and (in 1159) to "Count." Till 1398 he was elected annually; after that time he bore office for a month. He was required to be a native of a friendly Dalmatian city, and was elected by the "arengo" of the nobles. His payment was partly in coin and partly in kind. No one could ask him to be godfather, nor could others of his family contract spiritual affinity with any citizen. Neither he nor his relations could receive gifts, nor go to banquets in or out of the city, except for marriages, and with permission of the greater council; nor could he sleep outside the city. He was always followed by a knight and six squires, clothed at his own expense; and, notwithstanding his grandeur and power, one would think must have been glad when his term of office was completed. The council of the "Pregati" consisted of fifteen members of the Senate, elected annually on S. George's Day. There were three judges selected by them from the lesser council, which was composed of six nobles, also elected annually. Till the tenth century the bishop was elected by the chapter, from that time till the thirteenth by the clergy and people, after which period the appointment was made by the Pope. Thefts were punished by fine up to three times the value of the object stolen, and by prison, beating, branding, and maiming, following inability to pay. Similar punishments were enacted for offences against the person; but homicide of a citizen brought the criminal to the halter.
From Cattaro it is but a short distance to the southern boundary of the Austrian Empire on the Adriatic. A stone column between Spizza and Antivari marks the line. Two telegraphic wires are attached to this stone, one belonging to Austria, and one to Montenegro. The Bay of Antivari is said to be the most picturesque place on the Albanian coast, surrounded as it is by lofty mountains, with trees almost hiding the minarets of the town, while, to the north, Spizza is perched on red rocks rising steeply from the water. There is a great waterfall, which appears to fall sheer into the sea, with a mill just at its foot. Budua, which is fifteen miles from Cattaro, is something like Arbe in situation, crowning a projecting peninsula, and with grey mountains towering above it. It was a Roman fortress, known as Buta, and one of the keys to the interior. It was sacked by Saracen pirates in the ninth century, and in 1571 the Turks fell on it and burnt it. In 1687 it was defended against them by a Cornaro, but contains nothing of sufficient importance to repay the trouble of a visit.
XXV
THE RECIPROCAL INFLUENCES OF THE TWO SHORES
Between the Eastern and Western shores of the Adriatic there has been constant communication, either peaceful or bellicose, from the earliest times, for the sea was a highway traversed with equal ease by the enterprising merchant or the daring pirate. While the resulting influence of one coast on the other was considerable, more distant lands from which the way was open by the same course can be shown to have also affected the progress of art and craft on either side of the sea—Byzantium, North Africa, and the countries between being the strongest factors. The occurrence of Syrian motifs at Ravenna and Spalato is frequent, both in ornament and construction; peculiar expedients which were used in Tunis and other parts of North Africa appear in Lombard or Comacine work, while the influence of Alexandrian and Antiochene art on the styles which preceded and prepared the genesis of Romanesque ornament appears incontestable. The close relations between the two coasts at the period when they were governed from one centre, either Eastern or Western, make these influences probable. Ecclesiastical controversies at times affected portions of both, while their common Christianity necessarily produced community of interests and sympathy for the woes which one side or the other suffered from the incursions of heathen and barbarous hordes. Nor must the commercial relations be forgotten, by which, in the earlier mediæval period, objects of luxury, which served as models for the local artists, were spread to all points of the Mediterranean basin, and at the period of the Renaissance the manufacture of such objects as the plaquettes of bronze or lead which appear to have been produced in Italy especially, with the intention of serving as suggestions for craftsmen who were deficient in imagination or capacity. History records the assistance rendered by one shore to the other on many occasions, and the interference of the stronger and more civilised power in the affairs of the weaker. To those already cited in the body of the work a few may be added here. The Liburnians helped Octavius Augustus in the naval battle of Actium; and, when he became emperor, he did much for Dalmatia, in return for the assistance rendered. Yet the rebellions continued, mainly owing to the rapacity of the governors sent from Rome, as is proved by the answer of Batone to Tiberius, reported by Dion Cassius. He asked the reason for the frequent rebellions in town and country, and the implacable hatred which appeared to be nourished against the very name of Roman. Batone replied: "Because you sent neither shepherds nor dogs to guard your flock, but wolves." A better régime for the Dalmatians followed the peace which was made, and from that time onward Dalmatia furnished many distinguished men, who rose to high office in the empire, several, indeed, wearing the imperial purple. It is suggested that one of these, Decius the Illyrian, introduced the use of the dalmatic into Rome (the common dress in Dalmatia), which was frequently used by the nobles of the court of Valerian. Lampridius notes that Commodus sometimes wore it at special solemnities. Clergy and laity wore the same dress at that time, except for a fringe which distinguished the sacerdotal vestment. S. Cyprian, who succeeded Donatus, bishop of Carthage, speaks of its use as an ancient thing, from which it may be concluded that in the second and third centuries it was accepted as the Eucharistic vestment in North Africa, or worn by bishops outside the church. S. Eutychian, Pope in 275, ordered the alternative use of the dalmatic for clothing the bodies of martyrs with the "colobium" (a long tunic of crimson silk), which had been in use before; an order reversed by S. Gregory. It was used at first by the celebrant, but, when the chasuble came into use in the Roman Church, it became the vestment of the deacons. S. Symmachus conceded to S. Cæsarius, bishop of Orleans, in 508, as a favour, that his deacons might use the dalmatic, and S. Gregory granted the same privilege to the archdeacon of the Franks. At a later period the use was granted to kings for their coronation.
The Byzantines used Istria as a base in the final operations against the Goths till 555, when they were conquered. This was the period when so many basilicas were built in that country, in gratitude for the securing of freedom to the province from the yoke of the Arians, and for the re-establishment of the "Holy Republic," the inaccurate term which the Istrians used for the Byzantine Government. The exarchs ruled till 752. During this period the bonds between Istria and Ravenna were close. It was a military district under a provincial magister militum, directly subordinate to the exarch of Ravenna, and appointed by him. He was also charged with the civil administration, and lived at Pola, which was the capital till the ninth century. Istrians rose to high ecclesiastical honours in Ravenna, Grado, and Torcello. Justinian granted an appeal from the provincial judge to the bishop, who had also jurisdiction over secular and regular clergy, except in criminal cases. The archbishop of Ravenna had the right of revising the decisions of the judges of Pola, a right which continued till 1331, when Pola gave herself to Venice, and probably commenced at the time of Maximian, who was appointed archbishop by Justinian in 546.
He was a native of Vistro, now Porto Vestre, between Rovigno and Pola, and must have been a man of resource and great personal influence. The story runs that he found a treasure when cultivating his field. He sewed together two skins of a goat into the form of boots, and filled them and the skin of an ox from the treasure, deciding to take the rest to the emperor at Constantinople, to whom treasure-trove legally belonged. When he presented this remainder he was asked how much he had kept for himself. He replied: "As much as a stomach and a pair of boots could absorb." The Emperor Justinian interpreted this as meaning that he had taken as much as he required for food and for the journey, and became attached to him. Ambassadors arriving from Ravenna to announce the death of Archbishop Vittore (546), and to ask for the pallium for his successor, gave Justinian the opportunity of advancing Maximian, whom he sent to Ravenna with many gifts, including much of the "feudo di S. Apollinare," lands at Pola, and in its vicinity, which belonged to that church for centuries. Pope Vigilius was at that time an exile in Bithynia, and therefore the Ravennese at first refused Maximian, but changed their minds on learning of his many virtues (among which the imperial gifts no doubt ranked). His architectural works in Istria were considerable; and in Ravenna he consecrated the two churches of S. Vitale and S. Apollinare in Classe, built by Julian, the treasurer. In Istria he founded the monastery of S. Andrea, near Rovigno, and the church of S. Maria Formosa, or "in Canneto," at Pola (which had property in the exarchate of Ravenna), a magnificent church, which has been spoken of in the chapter on Pola. The "feud" consisted of a palace, with its dependencies, and three towers in the city of Pola, and a quantity of land in the district. The wood at Vistro where the treasure was found was also given to S. Apollinare by Maximian. In 1001 Otho II. gave S. Maria and S. Andrea to the archbishop of Ravenna; afterwards they belonged to S. Mark's, Venice. A document of 1138 in Ravenna shows Abbot Paul, of the monastery of Pomposa, asking for himself and his successors for one hundred years the renting of certain lands from Martin, abbot of S. Maria in Canneto and of S. Andrea. In 1200 the feud consisted of many rights of jurisdiction, tithes, and charges, both in the city of Pola, and in towns in its territory, some of the land having been sold, with Urban III.'s permission, between 1185 and 1187. There was a chapel of S. Apollinare and a house with their belongings near the Porta del Duomo, and three towers, the country possessions being spread over eleven places. At this time Engelbert III., Count of Görz, stole it, and held it for some time, notwithstanding an appeal to the Popes Celestine III. and Innocent III. In 1213 the archbishop granted the feud to a certain Stefano Segnor, so he must have then regained it. Seven years later Simeon, archbishop of Ravenna, conceded his lands in Istria to Guido Michele and his successors, with the obligation to renew the contract every sixty years, and reserving the right of appeals. The Castropola bought the feud from the Giroldi about 1300 for 1,800 "lire piccioli."
Aquileia was the most prosperous city of the empire after Rome, having 600,000 inhabitants in the days of its prosperity. The fleet which kept the capital in communication with the eastern coast of the Adriatic, and so with Liburnia, Giapidia, Pannonia, and the Levant, had a station there. Trajan took the division which was called Aquileian or Venetian from the Pretorian fleet at Ravenna. It had charge of the Upper Adriatic from Ancona to Zara, and of the shore from the Adige to the Arsa. After the Greeks lost Ravenna to the Lombards the station of the fleet was moved to Zara. Shortly before, in 743, the exarchate included the Dalmatian islands, and also the cities of Zara, Traù, Spalato, and Ragusa. The Slavs occupied Dalmatia in 640-642. Paulus Diaconus says that they crossed to Siponto in 649 and sacked several places near. The annals of Bari (926) speak of the siege and capture of Siponto by a Slav king, Michael, possibly the husband of Queen Helena, who is named on his wife's sarcophagus found on the island in the Jader, near Salona, as described in the chapter on Spalato. In the ninth century the Narentans helped in driving the Saracens from Monte Gargano.
The bishop of Torcello had possessions in Cittanova and Muggia, which were confirmed to him in 1177 by Frederick Barbarossa. The see of Grado had rights and possessions on the islands, and in Istria, at Trieste, Capodistria, Pirano, Cittanova, Parenzo, Pola, and Castel S. Giorgio, but the actual power was in the hands of the patriarch of Aquileia, who several times settled matters with his adversaries by giving them things which really belonged to Grado. With the increase of the Venetian power to the point at which the coast-towns were practically forced to yield themselves to her supremacy, Istria and Dalmatia became pawns in the political game which was played in Italy, and the reciprocal influences of the two shores became principally artistic and individual, rather than corporate or national.